It finds a ‘dose-response relationship’ between racial discrimination and poor mental health (ie the negative impact on mental health increased with increasing number of times and areas in which racism was experienced).

The authors also examine the impact of experiencing racism over many years. Recent experiences of racial discrimination (within the past 5 years only) had a stronger effect on mental health compared to experiences of racial discrimination that happened over five years ago. Chronic experiences of racial discrimination over someone’s life (both past and recent experiences) had the strongest effect on mental health.

Drawing on data from , the largest and most comprehensive survey to document the lives of ethnic and religious minorities in Britain during the pandemic, the report also shows how experiences of racial discrimination were associated with testing positive for COVID-19, financial concerns, feelings of loneliness, and a reduced sense of belonging. Racial discrimination also indirectly contributed to poor mental health, through these experiences.

The report is written by Patricia Irizar, Dharmi Kapadia, Harry Taylor, Gertrude Wafula, Albert Kwansa, Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Laia Bécares and Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi.

This report summarises published in 'Sociology of Health & Illness' (open access).

 will chair the Sociology panel and  has been appointed deputy chair of the Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies panel.

They will lead their units of assessment through the criteria setting phase, beginning later this year, and on through to the final assessment.

Their appointments take the total number of University colleagues with REF 2029 roles to eight.

Six colleagues are members to the REF People, Culture and Environment (PCE) pilot panels:

• , Professor of Health Sciences, for Unit of Assessment 3 – Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy; 
• , Professor of Inclusive Researcher and Academic Development, for Unit of Assessment 5 – Biological Sciences; 
• , Professor of Medical Biophysics, for Unit of Assessment 11 – Computer Science and Informatics;
• , Research Culture and Assessment Manager, for Unit of Assessment 17 – Business and Management Studies; 
• , Vice-Dean Research, Humanities and Chair in Drama, for Unit of Assessment 28 – History; 
• , Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance, for Unit of Assessment 33 – Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies, as well as her new deputy chair role. 

In October, , Professor in Global Politics, was appointed to the REF People and Diversity Advisory Panel, while Dr Cathal Rogers, Research Culture and Assessment Manager, was .

Vice-President for Research, Professor Colette Fagan said:

REF Director Rebecca Fairbairn said:

Further information

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The REF outcomes are used to inform the allocation of around £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research. The REF is a process of expert review, carried out by sub-panels focused on subject-based units of assessment, under the guidance of overarching main panels and advisory panels.

To find out more, visit: 

. 

Key findings

• There was a significant fall in the Christian population, from 37.3 million (72%) in 2001 to 26.2 million (46%) in 2021.
•  At the same time the number of Muslims (1.5 million to 3.8 million), Hindus (0.5 million to 1 million) and those with no religion (7.2 million to 20.7 million) has more than doubled.
• There has been a significant drop in the percentage of White British, White Irish and mixed ethnicity groups (e.g. in 2001 82% of White British respondents identified as Christian compared with 49% in 2021). Most other ethnic categories saw a more gradual decline. 
• Across most ethnic categories, younger people are less likely to say they are Christian. 
• Looking at migration history, some ethnic categories (White British, White other, Indian, Asian other and black African and Caribbean, recent arrivals are more likely to be Christian than those born in the UK)
• Migration has contributed to the growth in the Christian population recently with 1.2 million Christians migrating to the UK between 2001 and 2011 and 1.9 million between 2011 and 2021 compared to only 0.4 million between 1991 and 2001. The majority of Christian migrants between 2011 and 2021 came from Europe. 

See the report for more detailed data from each region of England. The report is written by .

The winners in our staff category were , and the 91ֱ�� Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG) for the Age-Friendly Futures Summit which aimed to advance the creation of an age-friendly world. 

Over 300 age-friendly leaders working in policy, practitioner and research from 20 countries were invited to the event in 91ֱ�� in March to share knowledge and shape the future of age-friendly policy and practice. Collaboration was key to the success of the summit, with MUARG working closely with WHO, Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority, Centre for Ageing Better and 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University. This collective approach led to the development of shared international priorities and principles for age-friendly practice, and the team also fed into the WHO European Healthy Ageing Strategy.

and were both highly commended in the staff category. Amit has developed a course for sixth form students at Rochdale College linking sociological concepts around race, class, gender and inequality to students’ experiences of social life in and around Rochdale. Working with the charity The Compassionate Friends (TCF), Laura has produced a series of ‘talking tools’ and contributed to TCF events to share her research on the experiences of bereaved siblings.

wins our PhD student category for co-producing and sharing of a made with social housing tenants in the Molenbeek area of Brussels. The film aimed to amplify the voices of older migrant and working-class communities in local and regional housing policy and practice. Joana organised nine screenings of the film in community venues, each followed by public debate on housing issues between the audience and stakeholders including elected representatives, tenants, community workers and researchers.

, and Sandhya Sharma were highly commended for their project which uses short films to spark conversations on social justice and the city. And Yu Zhu is highly commended for her work with using webinars and online media to share queer scholarship and knowledge with LGBTQ+ people from the Chinese diaspora.

The team estimate that over 132,000 children live in kinship care in England. Kinship carers contribute an estimated £4.3 billion a year to society. But unlike foster carers and adoptive parents, most have few rights to financial, practical and emotional support, and taking on the care of a child they love often pushes them into poverty, unemployment and ill health. 

The report is produced by at University of Sheffield in partnership with Kinship. It is written by Maria Petrillo, Jingwen Zhang, Becky Driscoll, and Nathan Hughes.

Lou was a Professor of at The University of Manchester, who lectured at the University for over 40 years. 

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lou received his first degree from Columbia University before receiving a scholarship to complete his PhD in political science at Yale University. He then moved to The University of Manchester on a further scholarship, where he settled permanently. Lou moved to the UK before the main US Civil Rights Movement gained momentum – it was racial discrimination in the UK that sparked his own interest in race and inequality.

In 1999, he founded the (Race Archives and Community Engagement) Centre, a specialist library and archive located in 91ֱ��’s Central Library, which documents the histories of Greater 91ֱ��’s Global Majority communities (and beyond), and the struggle against racism. His vision, underpinning all the work of the Centre, was for a collection that would not only have major research value, but would also be instrumental in celebrating Global Majority histories and cultures and combating racism.

The RACE Centre holds an extensive collection of Lou Kushnick’s work and research (1965-2008), relating to race relations in the UK and US, including 95 interviews with key figures who discuss American politics, economics, health and welfare and racial polarisation in the 1980s and 1990s.

These archives offer an extraordinary resource for students and scholars, providing unique insights into an array of subjects and inspiring discussions.

His publications spanned the UK and United States, and explored racial inequality in policing, health and politics.  His work and legacy were a crucial foundation for the work of the (CoDE) at 91ֱ��.

Professor Bridget Byrne, Director of CoDE, reflected:

Lou’s 2015 ‘Star Lecture’, was aimed at sixth-form and college history students studying the civil rights era in the USA.

Professor Claire Alexander, Head of the School of Social Sciences, shares her thoughts:

Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and the many colleagues who worked with Lou in 91ֱ�� and elsewhere.

The Horizon scandal, which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters, has severely dented the public’s perception of the Post Office as an institution. Against this backdrop, across the Post Office network.

These further cuts to a system already struggling can only do further harm to the sense that well-resourced public services could and should play a central role in everyday life.

In my , I spoke to people about their thoughts on the Post Office and their ideas about the future of society more generally. One interviewee relished their trips to 91ֱ��’s now-closed crown post office at Spring Gardens and described it, with only a little irony, as “the cathedral of post”.

They loved the way it revealed something of the workings of a larger, complex and world-spanning system of communication. They also liked to daydream about how it would be to live in a society oriented towards a more community-focused, village-like way of life.

My work looks at these speculative dimensions of social life – the way hopes, dreams and desires for other ways of living are expressed by people now. These speculative dimensions have a political significance – they tell us something about the forms of social organisation people yearn for, and what frustrates them about our current way of living. Understanding how public infrastructures influence these frustrations and desires is a key focus of my research.

The infrastructures which facilitate social life also send signals to us about how society is organised, what’s valued and powerful within it, and what seems likely to be valued in the future. They help structure our ideas about what society is and what it could be like.

In the case of the Post Office, the Horizon scandal demonstrates how the consequences can be severe and dystopian when something malfunctions within a key institution of this kind.

Historically, the Post Office played a key role in developing infrastructures of modern life that came to be cherished. Key among these, as historian has noted, is routine engagement with paid officials of the state, through Post Office staff and postal delivery workers, or “posties”.

Speaking to Post Office workers and posties has long been among the most positively regarded interactions that an ordinary person routinely has with state infrastructures. Local post offices and posties have represented valued senses of local knowledge, community overwatch and benevolent officialdom.

Crown post offices (the larger branches in the network), often inhabiting a significant spot in a town or city centre, have done their bit too, contributing a sense of civic importance to a place, alongside libraries and town halls. They have provided access to a professional, knowledgeable human interface between a complex system of multiple state services, and those who rely on them.

But our positive engagements with this state system have been placed under decades of increasing strain. Privatisation has flowed from a creeping rejection of the idea that publicly owned public services could ever function beautifully. This, in turn, has left the services we need on a daily basis under-resourced.

The condition of crown post offices has reflected this. Their interiors often emanate a stark sense of minimal upkeep and only grudging repair. Already, many crown post offices have been closed. Where their services have not fully disappeared, they have been precariously relegated to space in retailers such as WH Smiths.

Meanwhile, the way we communicate, shop and socialise has been altering dramatically. Digital communication technology is impressing itself ever further into our social lives. Technology has deeply embedded associations with the future, but with this also comes a sense of unavoidability. The way AI is spoken about, as something set to bring inevitable and consequential transformations of our lives – whether we like it or not – is a case in point.

Both of these things – the neglect of physical places where we interact with state services and the increasing technologisation of social life – contribute to a growing sense of anachronism about places like the post office. The idea that a public service might attend to the public good in a well-appointed, pleasant, urban public setting feels, for no good reason, like a relic of the past.

All this affects the ways we imagine social futures. It brings a false air of inevitability to the loss of things people still need and care deeply about.

When talking with users of post offices for my research, there was a simultaneous sense among them that posties and post offices contributed vital resources to everyday life, and that technology meant these things were not likely to survive much further into the future. This was often regarded as something to be accepted, even as it was acknowledged that what was going to be lost was something important and irreplaceable. 

But such losses are not inevitable. They are a political choice built on two key failures – failure to challenge the idea that well-funded, publicly owned and run public services are unaffordable, and failure to envisage ways of organising public services in the digital age, such that they retain the vital material contributions they make to places. 

Further losses to the crown post office network would represent a sad and, I believe, unnecessary extension of these failures.

, Research Assistant, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. .

Ten percent of ethnic minorities in Scotland have suffered recent racist physical attack. Black and Chinese ethnic groups in Scotland have particularly high levels of reporting racist insult and unfair racist treatment from police.

More than one third of people from ethnic minorities in Scotland worried about racist harassment. The majority of people identifying as Black, Pakistani, Indian and Jewish in Scotland worried about racist harassment. Levels of worry about racism were higher in Scotland than in England and Wales for many ethnic groups.

The report is produced by CoDE working in collaboration with BEMIS, the national umbrella body supporting the development of the Ethnic Minorities Voluntary Sector in Scotland.

The report is based on data from Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), the largest and most comprehensive survey to document the lives of ethnic and religious minorities in Britain during the pandemic.

The collaboration is part of , an initiative which works with research and voluntary sector partners to explore how the EVENS dataset can be used in racial justice work beyond academia.

Read the report: y.

The report is authored by Nissa Finney (University of St Andrews), Nigel de Noronha (University of Manchester) and BEMIS. We acknowledge funding from the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council via the CoDE grants ‘Exploring racial and ethnic inequality in a time of crisis’ (ES/V013475/1), ‘The social, cultural and economic impacts of the pandemic on ethnic and racialised groups in the UK’ (ES/W000849/1) and Legacy Grant funding (ESW012340/1).

Professor Phillips, a distinguished Social and Environmental Gerontology Professor, is visiting from The University of Stirling, where she has made significant contributions to research and policy in the field of ageing.

Professor Phillips brings a wealth of experience and expertise to 91ֱ��. During her tenure as Deputy Principal for Research at Stirling (2016–2024), over 80% of the University’s research was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent, and her leadership resulted in the largest increase in research grant capture in Stirling’s history.

She also served as Research Director for the Healthy Ageing Challenge under UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2020 to 2024. Professor Phillips was previously the Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University and Director of the Research Institute for Applied Social Sciences. She also established the Centre for Innovative Ageing at Swansea and directed the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research for Wales.

Professor Phillips’ contributions to gerontology have been recognised with numerous fellowships and awards, including an OBE for services to older people in 2013 and the British Society of Gerontology’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2021.

At The University of Manchester, Professor Phillips will engage in a series of strategic initiatives aimed at advancing research on ageing and enhancing The University of Manchester’s already world-leading research capabilities in social gerontology and ageing.

Professor Tine Buffel, Professor of Sociology and Social Gerontology at the University has shared:

is a new book, edited by Sharon Mallon and Laura Towers. 

While death, dying and bereavement are universal life events, the social conditions under which death takes place are fundamental in shaping how it is experienced by the individual. Bringing together contributors from around the world, this collection of chapters provides sociological insights into death, dying and bereavement. 

Drawing upon a range of sociological theorists, including Émile Durkheim, Zygmunt Bauman and C. Wright Mills, the book reviews the historical contribution of sociology to the field of thanatology. In doing so, the book challenges individualistic psychological approaches to death, dying and bereavement and demonstrates how sociological approaches can shape, constrain and empower experiences by imbuing them with both collective and individual meaning. 

Chapter-length case studies explore a wide range of issues, from digital aspects of remembrance and memorialisation and continued threats to liberties that permit life and death decisions to discussions of the impact and likely legacy of COVID-19 and climate change. 

is senior lecturer in mental health at the University of Staffordshire and is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Sociology at The University of Manchester. 

Death, Dying and Bereavement: New Sociological Perspectives is published by Routledge. 
 

Our Heads of Department for Sociology and Politics have both welcomed the results as a reflection of the hard work of their academics and researchers. 

Overall, the University has been placed among the top 25 worldwide in seven subject areas, and has two other subjects ranked in the top 50 globally. We are now ranked in 46 of the 55 subject areas covered by the ARWU, an impressive achievement. 

These exceptional results demonstrate our commitment to research excellence and global impact across a diverse range of disciplines. 

With as many as 1 in 10 people in the UK using dating apps, connecting with others online is part of everyday life. Over 900 LGBTQ+ and heterosexual dating app users took part in the research, and they told us that they used dating apps to find ‘the one’, to arrange hookups, for friendship, to make them feel less lonely, to pass the time or even for tourism tips. 

Lots of people who used apps to connect with others found them useful, but others were dissatisfied. Some people were dissatisfied because the apps didn’t help them achieve their aims and others experienced discrimination or abuse. 

This shares insights from the project to help people get the most out of dating apps and avoid some of the common pitfalls. The videos are: 

The team have also produced a aimed at individuals using, or considering using, apps. It covers the advantages and disadvantages of using dating apps plus important considerations around ethics, security and privacy. 

The widespread use of dating apps has led public health and sexual health practitioners to use them as a way of sharing health messages with users, but this raises . addresses these issues. 

The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (reference: ES/W002426/1) 

Luke Yates' new book, , investigates the ‘sharing economy’, powered by companies like Airbnb, Uber and Deliveroo. 

This new model promised to revolutionise the way we work and live. But what changes have come about, and why?

The book shows how platform capitalism is not only shaped by business decisions, but is a result of struggles involving social movements, consumer politics and state interventions. It focuses in particular on the controversial tactics used by platform giants to avoid regulation.

Drawing on cutting-edge research and analysis, the book provides a critical overview of the struggles around platforms, examines platform power, and reflects on the different possible futures of the platform economy. You can find the book on the .

Platform Politics is published by Bristol University Press.

As a teenager in post-USSR Ukraine, I vividly remember visiting secondhand clothes shops. For the elderly, the biggest obstacle to accepting secondhand clothes wasn’t just the lingering smell of naphthalene – a potent chemical with a strong mothball odour used for sanitation which is hard to remove even by washing or dry cleaning. 

Assumptions about the previous owner’s class — like the bourgeoisie, the so-called enemy of the working class in Soviet propaganda — and their skin colour were barriers too. But for me, these were exactly the reasons I adored this form of shopping. Through secondhand clothes, my friends and I consumed western culture. 

Yet, while proximity to western bodies felt like a blessing to my generation, it’s not universally desirable. Certain types of pre-worn clothing, like lingerie, for example, are rarely found in charity shops. Such items are perceived as as they are associated with contamination and lack of hygiene due to their close contact with intimate areas of the body. 

For customers willing to buy and wear Victorian-era underwear slips, this perceived risk is much lower as the cultural provenance outweighs any association with dirt. Washing such historic items is also not recommended as it could ruin the delicate silk or batiste textile, while the traces of someone else’s body such as marks, frays, creases, wrinkles and folds on clothes are considered marks of authenticity. 

Although both pre-loved modern and vintage lingerie have been worn, perceptions of their cleanliness differs radically. 

The stigma associated with dirt hinders the way people reuse secondhand garments or choose recycled fabrics that have been woven into something new. This limits the potential to transform the , fashion industry into a more sustainable one. 

Recycling is not yet happening on an industrial scale. Only 1% of used , and Europe’s only recycling mill, designed to convert discarded clothes into new textiles through eco-friendly chemical recycling, closed in February 2024 – just two years after opening. 

Reuse – such as resale, rental, repair and remaking – could help prevent , reduce , lower and increase to tackle fashion waste. But despite the , it still remains a niche practice because it relies on people wearing clothes that others have previously worn. 

Although worn clothes are often called “pre-loved,” the visibility of a former “lover” should be minimal for them to re-enter the new cycle of consumption. 

Behind the seams

Cleanliness is a cultural concept that has evolved over time. Before, laundering undergarments served as a substitute for bathing, from germs and disease. Today, laundry practices focus on caring for clothes and protecting them . Washing at low temperatures and on gentle cycles isn’t about killing germs but preserving freshness. Freshness has become the primary marker of cleanliness, as shown by the wide range of modern detergents and after-laundry products that promise extra freshness. 

Cultural perceptions of cleanliness significantly influence how secondhand clothes are viewed and valued. Today, that’s driven by the need to remove traces of the previous owner. That involves laundering, which can release harmful microplastics – washing polyester contributes more than half a million tonnes of – or energy-intensive dry cleaning with toxic solvents like perchloroethylene, a process that’s commonly used by rental clothing businesses. 

My preliminary research on upcycling shows that clothes, even when physically clean, are often seen as dirty if they’ve been previously worn. Stains like blood on a dress, sweat marks on an XXXL men’s shirt, or wine spills on branded jeans are perceived and even smell differently, despite cleaning. These concerns go beyond hygiene, involving assumptions and moral judgements about the bodies of previous owners, including their class, body shape, gender and race. 

In many cultures, there’s a need for symbolic cleansing from the body of that is often overlooked. 

Cultural biases extend to fibres, with the industry favouring virgin wool obtained from sheep shearing over recycled wool. That’s a reflection of historical attitudes towards who collected discarded wasted and smelly textiles. 

The recycling process of shredding discarded wool and weaving it into new fibres was invented in 19th-century Yorkshire. The resulting reclaimed product, known as “shoddy wool”, was considered lower quality not only due to the process, which significantly downgraded the quality of textile but also because it used worn, dirty rags collected by poor, often immigrant, women and children. The growth of wool recycling has been hindered, not by technology but by negative attitudes towards the use of recycled rather than virgin and , fibres. 

Cleanliness of secondhand clothes is symbolically charged. By distinguishing between the needs for and expectations of physical and symbolic purity in clothing and discussing them more openly, attitudes and cultural norms may shift. This could help move reuse business models from niche to mainstream and support further sustainable development.

, PhD Candidate, Cultural Sociology, University of Manchester

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. .

Simin Fadaee’s new book investigates how Marx's ideas have been adopted and adapted by revolutionary thinkers in the Global South. 

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. 

In Global Marxism, Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them - they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. 

This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live. 

Global Marxism is published by 91ֱ�� University Press.

This was a time of real change. Girls often stayed at school longer, which meant more qualifications, and for some of them this meant well-paid careers. Some, but not all, could access the pill. Teenagers with money to spare could buy pop music records, follow the latest fashions and save up to travel.

Our Teenage Kicks videos show their dreams for their future. From daydreaming about what it would be like to drive a car, or even just to wear trousers, to dreams of travelling to different countries, getting married, and delaying children until the family finances were secure.

Each of the eight women reflects on how their teenage experiences affected how their lives turned out. For some, like Joyce, dreams are cut short. She was planning on training as a teacher, but had to leave school when her mum got ill and she was needed at home. 

Others, like Andrea, achieve some of their teenage dreams. Now retired, she is rekindling her teenage interest in politics and social justice, taking part in climate protests and volunteering at her local food bank.

You can see until September. The gallery is viewed from the street outside NGI, so no need to check opening times.

Alternatively, you can see the whole , read the zine or watch the video.

In his new book, Alan Warde explores how eating habits have changed in recent decades and asks what it means for us to eat well.

He traces the changing culinary landscape of food consumption in Britain since the 1950s, drawing connections between global trends in mass food production and the changing practices of what and how we eat.

From a move towards more informal ways of eating, and an increase in eating out, Warde demonstrates how social change shapes what we put on our plates, sharpening both the pleasures and the anxieties around food.

Drawing on research undertaken over 40 years, the book offers fresh insights into such practices as everyday meals, shopping, cooking and dining out and how these are shaped by demographic, social and cultural processes. The book provides a comprehensive and engaging analysis of eating in Britain today and of the many controversies about how this has changed.

is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Professorial Fellow in the at the University of Manchester. He specialises in cultural sociology, consumption and food. In 2019 he received the BSA Distinguished Service to British Sociology Award.

Dating apps are not just about finding love or hooking up. They are becoming increasingly important in the communication of public health messaging, particularly sexual health.

In 2023, magazine suggested that dating apps could “become a key component in [sexually infectious diseases] prevention”. And their prediction seems to be spot on. 

Grindr, a dating app popular among men who have sex with men, for example, has recently partnered with and in London to allow users to order HIV test kits through the app. While these partnerships hold promise for public health, they also raise important ethical challenges. Alongside colleagues from the UK and US, we have of these challenges and proposed ways of addressing them.

During the , more people than ever started using . Today, apps such as Tinder, Match, or Grindr have millions of users worldwide. A recent in the US showed that more than half of people aged under 30 had used dating apps. Most dating apps can be accessed from smartphones, allowing users to find other people based on shared interests, preferences or location.

A concluded that apps have multiple benefits for public health, including the ability to effectively target specific groups. In the US, is a successful example of collaborating with dating apps to promote sexual health. And, during the recent outbreak, Grindr provided information and its vaccine to users.

Profit, privacy and prejudice

But most apps are profit-generators for businesses and operate in ethical and regulatory contexts that are very different to those of medical or health related professions. One major concern is privacy, as apps collect vast amounts of personal data. Cybersecurity experts have argued that apps are a “”. This is, in part, because the main goal of apps is “generating, capturing and controlling ” for profit.

Unfortunately, there are many examples of apps mishandling data. For example, has been fined for sharing sensitive user data with third parties, including users’ HIV status. This misuse of data can have severe consequences, including in unsafe environments.

Dating apps can also reproduce all too common in wider society. that many users, particularly from marginalised groups, experience harassment, including and , on these platforms. of the experiences of dating apps among rural sexual minority men in the US found that online dating often led to “deception, bullying or discrimination, and harassment or coercion”.

Some apps, such as Grindr, – but other with features which allow, if not encourage, discrimination. Discriminatory experiences undermine users’ trust in dating apps, making marginalised groups more reluctant to use them. This also means that marginalised groups may be less likely to access public health information and help through dating apps.

Some dating apps operate with opaque policies. For example, and can terminate any user’s account, for any reason and without any notice. Some who had been using apps to disseminate information have had their profiles blocked on some apps.

Future collaborations with apps should prioritise the benefit of users over those of the app businesses, develop transparent data policies that prevent users’ data from being shared for profit, ensure the apps’ commitment to anti-discrimination and anti-harrassment, and provide links to health and wellbeing services beyond the apps.

Dating apps have the potential to be powerful allies in public health, especially in reaching populations that have often been ignored. However, their use must be carefully managed to avoid compromising user privacy, safety and marginalisation.

Research engagement comes in shapes and sizes, and this year judges of the annual Sociology Prize for Public Engagement, Philip Drake (Director of Social Responsibility, School of Social Sciences) and Hilary Pilkington (Research Director, Sociology) awarded joint first prize in the staff category to two worthy, but very different, projects. and share first prize this year with .

Helen and Torik won for sharing their plastic recycling research with policymakers and consumers. They organised recycling pop-up events, produced reports for households and policymakers, contributed to government and business consultations and achieved extensive of their project.

Penny Tinkler won for her at Glasgow Women’s Library, which also included intergenerational workshops exploring how gender shapes teenage experiences and later life. Teenage Kicks shares the stories of eight women who were all teenagers in the 1960s.

was highly commended in the staff category for a series of knowledge exchange events, at a local mosque, church and temple, researching the role of faith spaces in healthy ageing. The events led to co-produced policy and practice recommendations and a report on the role of .

We also awarded prizes in our PhD student category. , with (University of Bristol) won first prize in this category for an innovative essay for the British Council Cultural Relations Collection. 

In it they explored how artists, from filmmakers to painters, can contribute to peacebuilding, using Colombia and Northern Ireland as their cases. Their essay led to them being invited to take part in further British Council international collaborations on the role of the arts in transitional justice.

was highly commended in the PhD student category for sharing her work exploring identity and belonging for French citizens of South Asian descent through online and in-person events and as a podcast guest.

new book, is out now, published by Bloomsbury.

In her groundbreaking ethnography The Asian Gang, published in 2000, Claire Alexander explored the creation of Asian Muslim masculinities in South London. 

Set against the backdrop of the moral panic over 'Asian gangs' in the mid-1990s, based on 5 years of ethnographic fieldwork, the book explored the idea of 'the gang', friendships, and the role of 'brothers' in the formation, performance and negotiation of ethnic, religious and gendered identities.

The Asian Gang Revisited picks up the story of 'the Asian gang' over the subsequent two decades, examining the changing identities of the original participants as they transition into adulthood in the context of increased public and political concerns over Muslim masculinities, spanning the War on Terror, 'grooming gangs' and increased Islamophobia. 

Building on her ongoing relationships with the men over 25 years, the book explores education, employment, friendship, marriage and fatherhood, and religious identity, and examines both the changes and the continuities that have shaped this group. It traces the lives of its participants from their teenage years through to their early-mid 40s. 

A unique longitudinal study of this small, diverse but still close cohort of men, the book offers an intimate, rich and textured account of what it means to be a Muslim man in contemporary Britain.

Offering a critical perspective on the concept of radicalisation, the book views it from the perspective of social actors who engage in radicalising milieus but for the most part have not crossed the threshold into violent extremism. 

It brings together contributions conducted as part of a cross-European (including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Russia, Turkey, the UK, and beyond) study of young people's engagement in ‘extreme right’ and ‘Islamist’ milieus.

It argues that radicalisation is best understood as a relational concept reflecting a social process rooted in relational inequalities but also shaped by interactional and situational dynamics, which not only facilitate but also constrain radicalisation.

The book draws on insights from an EU Horizon 2020 project, led by Hilary Pilkington.

This book explores how dementia studies relates to dementia’s growing public profile and corresponding research economy. It argues that a neuropsychiatric biopolitics of dementia positions dementia as a syndrome of cognitive decline, caused by discrete brain diseases, distinct from ageing, widely misunderstood by the public, that will one day be overcome through technoscience. 

This biopolitics generates dementia’s public profile and is implicated in several problems, including the failure of drug discovery, the spread of stigma, the perpetuation of social inequalities and the lack of support that is available to people affected by dementia. Through a failure to critically engage with neuropsychiatric biopolitics, much dementia studies is complicit in these problems.

Drawing on insights from critical psychiatry and critical gerontology, this book explores these problems and the relations between them, revealing how they are facilitated by neuro-agnostic dementia studies work that lacks robust biopolitical critiques and sociopolitical alternatives. 

In response, the book makes the case for a more biopolitically engaged "neurocritical" dementia studies and shows how such a tradition might be realised through the promotion of a promissory sociopolitics of dementia.

Almost overnight, face masks became one of the most visible, everyday symbols of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, most of us did not think much about face masks, or might have associated them with medical staff in operating theatres. But at some point in 2020, they became – for most people – one of the things we grabbed every time we left the house.

Masks were everywhere, and they quickly became a focus not just for new rules (when to wear a face mask, or who was exempt) but new social norms. Masks were mandated in certain situations by the government as an infection-control measure, but their significance quickly expanded beyond this. Wearing, or not wearing, a mask soon took on social meanings that went beyond the medical. 

For some people, masks became a symbol of care for others. And for other people, or in other situations masks were rejected as a symbol of political over-reach.

This book uses face masks to explore the sociological significance of masks and understand how this tangible representation of a global pandemic found its way into our lives, our judgements and our pockets.

reveals that despite security staff being a common sight on university campuses, only one third (30.8%) of students surveyed agreed that they keep students safe on campus. The report follows a series of high-profile and controversial incidents involving campus security services and police and students at UK universities.

Students raised concerns about racial profiling and discrimination from campus security staff. Nearly three-quarters of students surveyed agreed that some people would be more likely the have encounters or issues with security staff than others, with 78.6% saying that race was a key factor, followed by gender (61.7%) and social class (54.8%).

Only 22.6% of students who identify as trans, non-binary or an ‘other’ gender identity said that security services keep students safe and the report found cases of transphobic and misogynistic behaviour from security staff towards students.

Students reported instances of sexual violence, assault or drink spiking being dismissed or not believed by security staff. Sexual violence and drink spiking were important issues for students, and many felt that security staff did not treat them seriously enough. The report also highlighted some cases were security staff accused students of lying about being spiked, or blamed them for leaving drinks unattended.

In many universities, security staff are also the designated first responders to mental health incidents. Though there were cases where security staff were sensitive and supportive to students in crisis, there were many more where the response from individual security staff was inadequate or insensitive, sometimes even making the problem worse.

Security staff have wide-ranging and often conflicting responsibilities, and the report raises serious questions about whether they are best positioned to fulfil this role. One student remembered being intimidated and scared during a mental health crisis when she was escorted back to her student accommodation by security staff in ‘police-type uniform’. Others noted that security staff arrived quickly but clearly had little or no training in dealing with mental health emergencies.
 

Commenting on the report, Nehaal Bajwa, NUS Vice President for Liberation and Equality said:

Dr Shabna Begum, Interim co-CEO Runnymede Trust, said:

Ruth Ehrlich, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Liberty, said:

Lead author of the report, University of Manchester, said:

Second author, Dr Laura Connelly, University of Sheffield, said:

Co-author, Dr Siobhan O’Neill, University of Kent, said:

follows a series of high-profile and controversial incidents involving campus security services and police and students at UK universities. It is the first piece of research to investigate students’ views on, and experiences with, security services and police on UK university campuses.

Authored by Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury, Dr Laura Connelly, Dr Kerry Pimblott, Dr Siobhan O’Neill and Dr Harry Taylor, the report shows that students have a range of concerns about campus security services, as well as the police on campus.

A new postgraduate course addressing the global environmental crisis and the challenges of building sustainable societies has been launched by The University of Manchester.

According to a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), profound social change is urgently needed to help mitigate the climate crisis and meet other sustainability goals.

The new MA Social Change, Environment and Sustainability course responds to these needs by equipping a generation of graduates and researchers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to lead the transformational processes required. It explores the dynamic relations between social, cultural, socio-economic and socio-technical change and how this impacts the climate and ecological crisis.

Students will come away with knowledge of key environmental issues from a social scientific perspective, such as such as biodiversity and the global food system, consumption and the climate crisis and debates around sustainability and economic growth.

The programme is one of only a few in the country that specifically addresses issues of environment and sustainability from the perspective of sociology and social change. This will give students the training and skills to pursue a career in fields such as environmental and sustainability consultancy, communications, corporate social responsibility, government and policy, and the third sector, such as think tanks, charities and NGOs.

The course is led by , based at the University’s Sustainable Consumption Institute and Sociology Department, and offers valuable perspectives on how social innovation and behavioural change are critical to tackling the environmental crisis.
 

Prospects ‘Future You’ podcast recorded with Programme Director Dan Welch: 

The University of Manchester is one of the world’s top universities for sustainability and global impact – , for global impact against the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Its sociology department is , with its research achieving among the country’s top three universities for power and impact – according to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

The first cohort of the MA Social Change, Environment and Sustainability is planned for 2024 entry.

Find more information about the course and how to apply here.

The University of Manchester is one of five partner organisations who together have been awarded £37.5 million from The Economic and Social Research Council . Of this award £7 million is to support our team at the Cathie Marsh Institute (CMI), now 13-strong, where Vanessa Higgins and Debora Price lead the national Training and User Support functions of the service.
 

Welcoming the award, , Director of Research, School of Social Science said:

The UK Data Service provides access to the largest collection of economic, social and population data in Europe. It hosts over 9,000 datasets including the UK Census, Understanding Society and the Labour Force Survey. There are 50,000 registered users, from 148 countries.
 

, Deputy Director of the Service and lead Investigator at the University of Manchester, said:

The cross-site Training and User Support service led by the CMI team at 91ֱ�� has grown significantly in recent years with an outstanding track record of providing appropriate training programmes. 

Last year, they ran over 100 live training events and there is a large and growing range of online materials, from interactive data skills modules, to written guides and how-to videos for all levels of user. Feedback from users is excellent with 97% of respondents last year saying they would recommend their training event to others.
 

, Co-Investigator at the University of Manchester, and national Service Director for Training and User Support said:

Race & Ethnicity in Britain is a new podcast mini-series produced in collaboration between the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) and Surviving Society.

In the first episode, host Chantelle Lewis discusses the challenges of communicating research on racism and ethnic inequalities with CoDE directors Bridget Byrne, Claire Alexander and James Nazroo.

Future episodes will be released weekly. Each episode takes a close look at some of the research produced at CoDE, from issues ranging from the debates around statues of slave traders, ethnic inequalities in the cultural industries, racism in Britain today and the differing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details of each new episode will be shared the CoDE social media channels. Follow us on , , and for updates. Or subscribe to the podcast on , or .

The is the most popular sociology podcast in the UK. It is produced by Chantelle Lewis and George Ofori-Addo.

has written a new book, , which is published Polity Press.

The book explores what is and has been understood by ‘family’ in different sociocultural contexts and how family life intersects with social spheres such as the state, the labour market and the economy. 

Alongside broad social developments such as (post)colonialism and austerity and their connections with changing family patterns, the book engages interdisciplinary work on time, embodiment and materiality in order to offer a multidimensional perspective on the day-to-day lives of families. 

Drawing from research in the Global North and the Global South, the text carefully considers how people approach the study of families and thus offers insight into the shape of mainstream family studies today. 

The book offers a timely intervention into current debates within family studies and suggests avenues of investigation that deserve further attention, and will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars alike.

is available in paperback, hardback and ebook and examination copies are available for lecturers.

Every year, the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester honour exceptional individuals who have made significant contributions to the institution through the Distinguished Achievements Awards.

In the latest ceremony held on June 28, two members from the School of Social Sciences received prestigious awards. Tine Buffel, Professor in Sociology and Director of the 91ֱ�� Urban Aging Group (MUARG), was recognised as the Researcher of the Year, while Khadra Qani Osman, a final year BASS student, was named the Undergraduate Student of the Year. The awards were presented during an official ceremony held in the Whitworth Hall.

The University of Manchester boasts a remarkable faculty of over 4,000 research staff, and the Distinguished Achievements Awards celebrate the best among them. Colette Fagan, who presented the Researcher of the Year Awards said:

Tine's research on urban ageing is driving cities to create supportive environments for older people. Through her leadership of the 91ֱ�� Urban Ageing Research Group, Tine has brought international recognition for the University's work in this field and has supported a new generation of researchers. Tine has secured grants and published high-quality research, including two upcoming books in 2023.

Tine's influence extends beyond academia, as she actively shapes policies and practices to enhance the quality of life for older individuals. She serves as an expert member of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing Alliance and the World Health Organisation Advisory Group, and has recently been honoured with two awards for her collaborative research on the experiences of older people during the pandemic.

Judy Williams, who bestowed the Distinguished Award for Undergraduate Student of the Year, emphasized the vital role students play in making the university a dynamic and vibrant place:

Khadra Qani Osman demonstrates the values and commitment to social responsibility, equality and diversity that the University of Manchester promotes. In addition to achieving exceptional results throughout her academic career, her role as Student Representative for the BA Social Sciences played a significant part in shaping the student experience in more positive and diverse ways. She notably established standards for communication of Student Voice to Student Reps and to the BASS Programme Committee, by establishing these platforms for effective student communications.

In addition to her academic achievements, Khadra had maintained a strong focus on building a career in Sports Media, with a focus on Women in Sport. She is an active member of Greater 91ֱ�� 4 Women, a member of the Women in Football Network, an active participant in the BCOS North Masterclass Programme, an UpReach associate, and she has served as Inclusive Media Ambassador for UpReach and as an Election Observer for Democracy Volunteers – all organisations that promote the diversity of all women in sport, technology and politics.

You can find more information about the other winners on the University of Manchester and watch the recording of the ceremony .